+ Betrayal in the Bundestag
| | | | Today marks the 80th anniversary of VE day – when the second world war formally ended in Europe. But while this is a day of celebration, it's hard to feel entirely optimistic about the state of the post-war settlement. Plenty of political parties now seek to undermine the democracy that was so hard-won all those years ago. We often ask why people vote for parties who attack democracies but today we're looking at why they don't. A study from Leiden and Bocconi universities shows that the areas in Italy most known for anti-fascist resistance during the war remain less likely to support the far right today. The study's authors travelled to these pockets of partisan activity to investigate why there was such a strong link between the politics of the people fighting fascism 80 years ago and that of their descendents. What they uncovered is a valuable lesson for us all as we try to navigate strained political times. Friedrich Merz has finally been confirmed as Germany's new chancellor – but it looked touch and go for much of the day on Tuesday, when he faced an unexpected block on his nomination. Merz had to call a second round of voting in the Bundestag after becoming the first ever chancellor candidate to lose the first round. The maths tells us that Merz must have been betrayed by a handful of MPs from his own side. But since the ballot is secret, we will never know for sure whodunnit. As Ed Turner relays, Merz really couldn't have had a less auspicious start to the job. Archaeologists have been rummaging around in the Pyrenees to find out what homo sapiens packed in their bags before heading out on long journeys. Shells, for one thing, and a favourite flint, it turns out. These findings are helping us fill in the gaps about what our forefathers valued and how they behaved. A modern day traveller setting out on a long walk, such as along the legendary Camino de Santiago, would naturally pack their phone (as well as their shell and favourite flint, of course). How else to navigate, send pics along the way or call ahead to book a table for dinner? But there's a case to be made to leave your phone at home, especially when on a pilgrimage. |  | Laura Hood Senior Politics Editor, London | |  Juan Masullo, Leiden University; Simone Cremaschi, Bocconi University Those asking how to counter the far right might look at the communities in Italy where partisan resistance was strong. | | |  Ed Turner, Aston University Merz won confirmation of MPs in a second round of voting after becoming the first ever chancellor candidate to lose in the first round. | |  Marta Sánchez de la Torre, Universitat de Barcelona Flint tools carried across the Pyrenees reveal the routes prehistoric humans took. |  Una Cunningham, Stockholm University Retirement, relationship loss or major life decisions – your motives for making a pilgrimage affect your approach to technology. | |  Lourenzo Fernández-Prieto, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela; Daniel Lanero Táboas, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Europe's pre-1945 farming industry was mainly organic, and it was extremely effective. | | | | | -
J. Guillermo Sánchez León, Universidad de Salamanca By analysing minute-by minute data, we can pinpoint the moment where it all went wrong for Spain's power grid. -
Jérôme Viala-Gaudefroy, Sciences Po US President Donald Trump is not an accident of history. His re-election is in line with a profound structural change in American society that began at the end of the Cold War. -
Francesco Grillo, Bocconi University The European car industry was languishing even before Trump's tariffs arrived. -
Juan Diego Rodriguez-Blanco, Trinity College Dublin; Kristina Petra Zubovic, Trinity College Dublin New research shows microplastics in glitter can disrupt how marine life builds its shells and reefs. -
Wendy Webster, University of Huddersfield Ukrainians fear that what happened to Poland after the second world war could happen to their country. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment